DISCOVER.
Synonyms:
| ascertain, | detect, | disclose, | ferret out, | find out, |
| descry, | discern, | expose, | find, | invent. |
Of human actions or character, detect is used, almost without exception, in a bad sense; discover may be used in either the good or the bad sense, oftener in the good; he was detected in a fraud; real merit is sure to be discovered. In scientific language, detect is used of delicate indications that appear in course of careful watching; as, a slight fluttering of the pulse could be detected. We discover what has existed but has not been known to us; we invent combinations or arrangements not before in use; Columbus discovered America; Morse invented the electric telegraph. Find is the most general word for every means of coming to know what was not before certainly known. A man finds in the road some stranger's purse, or finds his own which he is searching for. The expert discovers or detects an error in an account; the auditor finds the account to be correct. Compare [DISCERN].
Antonyms:
See synonyms for [HIDE].